Getting the first win of the season can relieve a lot of the pressure off of a team, but it takes more than that to prove that that team is the best in the country. That is exactly what the Cal men’s golf team will look to do this weekend at the Jack Nicklaus Invitational in Dublin, Ohio.
The Nicklaus Invitational, hosted by Ohio State, is a 54-hole event played at the Scarlet Golf Course on Sunday and Monday. Coming off an impressive victory of 30 strokes at the Saint Mary’s Invitational in Seaside, Calif., the team will look to continue its winning streak in Ohio.
No. 1 in the country after a spectacular 2012-13 season, despite losing in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament to Illinois. Last year, the Bears won an unheard of 12 of 14 stroke-play events, breaking the previous single-season record.
“I think we want to prove that last year wasn’t just an anomaly and we can be one of the best teams again,” said senior Michael Weaver.
Cal retained some of the last year’s momentum, as five of the players from the 2012 starting team are still on the squad. This year, the players have a connection beyond simply being teammates.
“We push each other, we are competitive and we all just want to do well not just for ourselves but for the sake of the team,” Weaver said.
However, some of the success from last year’s team seemed to be missing in the first tournament of the year.
The Bears’ fourth-place finish at the Gopher Invitational in Independence, Minn., did not get the team rolling in the direction of continuing last year’s dominance. Weaver and Michael Kim, both first-team All-Americans and leaders from last year’s team, were not present at the event because they were playing in the Walker Cup — for the United States. In the absence of Weaver and Kim, second-team All-American Brandon Hagy led the team in the Gopher Invitational with a second-place individual finish.
With the return of Weaver and Kim, the team got a win much needed for morale at the Saint Mary’s Invitational. The Bears quickly showed why they were ranked No. 1 in the country and a glimmer of the previous year’s success, finishing 30 strokes better than second-place Oregon. Individually, Weaver came in a very close second place, one stroke behind San Diego’s Grant Forrest, with Brandon Hagy in a close third.
Ohio State is coming into the invitational off of a fourth-place tie with Purdue at the Windon Memorial in Illinois. The Buckeyes have gotten off to a slow start, as they earlier placed 10th in the Northern Intercollegiate. With their tremendous victory last week and Ohio State’s slow start to the season, the Bears figure to extend their winning streak and continue their steady improvement to last year’s caliber of play. The invitational will reveal whether the team can live up to the hype and continue its dominance.
“We have all been working hard over the summer and early this fall, so hopefully we can go to Ohio and play well and bring home another W,” Weaver said.
